In a move to counter any possible political formation by the Congress-led UPA to push the controversial National Counter Terrorism Centre ahead of the scheduled May 5 meeting on the issue, chief ministers who are opposed to the proposed anti-terror mechanism held separate parleys with each other on Monday on the subject.

Taking the lead in mounting pressure on the Ce-ntre to desist from implementing the NCTC, Tam-il Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa invited her counterparts from Guja-rat and Odisha and Punjab deputy CM Sukh-bir Singh Badal for discussions.

After participating in the CMs’ meet on internal security convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Gujarat CM Narendra Modi and Odi-sha CM Naveen Patnaik met Jayalalithaa at Tamil Nadu House separately.

Patnaik was the first to meet Jayalalithaa; the two were closeted for over 25 minutes. But Patnaik refused to divulge what had transpired, merely saying it was a courtesy call as Jayalalithaa was an 'old family friend of my father'.

Soon afterwards, Modi met the Tamil Nadu CM for 40 minutes, but he too, as well as Ms Jayalalithaa herself, refused to speak to the waiting media.

All three have voiced their opposition to the NCTC. Sources said the three leaders discussed a joint strategy to target the Centre on NCTC and other issues when they meet again on May 5. Mr Badal got delayed and, thus, couldn’t meet Ms Jayalalithaa.

Meanwhile, Bihar’s Nitish Kumar and other BJP CMs voiced strong objections about the NCTC. West Bengal’s Mamata Baner-jee, wasn’t present, but her speech, criticising NCTC, was read out.

CMs speak

* J. Jayalalithaa, Tamil Nadu CM: Lack of consultation with the states... is a cogent commentary on system of governance at the Centre.

* Narendra Modi, Gujarat CM: Government’s unilateralism creating an atm-osphere of distrust between Centre and state.

* Naveen Patnaik, Odisha CM: Seek urgent consultations between the Centre and the states over issues like the NCTC.

* Mamata Banerjee, WB CM: NCTC upsets the federal structure of the country.

* Raman Singh, Chhattisgarh CM: Terrorism and naxalism have to be dealt with tough hands.

* Lal Thanhawla, Mizoram CM: Mizoram, sharing porous international borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh, remains prone to a host of illegal activities like smuggling of weapons, narcotics and Fake Indian Currency Notes.

* Oommen Chandy, Kerala CM: Kerala has 600-km-long coastline. In the light of the recent attacks on fishermen along our coast, it is imperative that we not only enhance vigil on our coastal borders but also strengthen protection to our fishermen communities.

* Tarun Gogoi, Assam CM: Illegal coal trading in border areas of a number of northeastern states is fast becoming a major source of funding for terror outfits.

* O. Ibobi Singh, Manipur CM: We have been drawing attention of the Centre to the dire need to effectively guard the India-Myanmar border. We endorse the proposal to deploy the BSF, replacing the Assam Rifles, to guard the 1,640-km-long border.

* Shivraj S. Chouhan, MP CM: In the recent past, it has been seen that, despite regular meetings on internal security, the Centre is taking unilateral decisions on many issues; whether creation of NCTC or proposed amendments to the BSF Act and RPF Act.